This invention relates generally to surgical devices, and more specifically, to a device fitted about a catheter tube inserted into a patient through an opening in the patient""s body to provide a local anesthetic agent to the tissue around the opening.
Catheters have been used for many years to remove body fluids, whereby a sharp pointed instrument is fitted with a cannula and is used to insert the cannula into a body cavity as a drainage outlet. The common practice is to place a tube into a body cavity of a patient and then to initiate drainage of body build using gravity or a vacuum source. Once the accumulation of fluid in the body cavity has been relieved, the catheter is removed from the patient. The removal of the catheter from the patient""s body can cause severe pain and discomfort to the patient.
A variety of devices and methods have been introduced to try to alleviate some of the patient""s discomfort during medical procedures involving the use of catheters and tubes in the body. For example, Valenzuela et al. (1999) describe the topical application of an anesthetic (lidocaine-prilocaine cream) prior to postoperative thoracostomy tube removal to reduce pain during the procedure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,074 to Parker discloses an endotracheal tube and a nasogastric tube for oral or nasal insertion into a patient""s trachea and pharynx, respectively, to clear a pathway to the lungs or stomach. The tube is surrounded by a jacket through which an anesthetic can be provided to prevent gagging or coughing of the patient during the procedure and the subsequent removal of the tube. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,279,594 and 5,417,671 to Jackson disclose an intubation device for introduction into body passages that has topical anesthetic properties incorporated into the polymeric material making up the walls of the device. When the tube is inserted within the body passage the anesthetic compound diffuses to the surface of the body tissue in contact with the tube. The anesthetic alleviates the discomfort experienced by the patient and suppresses the ejection reaction, such a gagging or coughing of the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,551 to James discloses a Trocar catheter which is capable of administering pain relief at localized points. As disclosed, during the vacuum process the patient can feel some discomfort. The cited invention is capable of simultaneous removing the fluids and dispensing localized medication at the point of vacuum to alleviate such discomfort.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,385 to Cameron et al. discloses a device for anchoring a tube, such as a gastrostomy tube, that has been inserted into a patient""s body to minimize tube movement and prevent unwanted removal of the tube from the body.
While the cited examples are capable of providing anesthetic to a localized point, none are directed to providing anesthetic at an opening, such as a surgical incision, to alleviate the patient""s discomfort during removal of a tube or other device through the opening. As can be understood from the above, there remains a need in the art for a means to alleviate a patient""s discomfort during removal of a medical tube or other device from an opening, incision or ostomy site.
The present invention concerns a device for use with medical and surgical tubing and is designed to effectively reduce the discomfort associated with the presence or removal of a tube from a patient""s body. The device is designed to fit around a medical tube or device, such as a chest tube, so that an anesthetic or other medication can be instilled at the site the tube enters the patient""s body. In one embodiment, the tube collar is substantially cylindrical in shape having a cylinder wall defining an inner surface and an outer surface, such that the outer surface contacts the patient""s body tissue when the tube and collar are in place. The anesthetic can be delivered to the tissue in contact with the collar through channels imbedded within the cylinder wall that have openings to the outer surface or via channels that are present on the outer surface of the collar that are in contact with the tissues surrounding the wall of the tube. Alternatively, the tube collar can comprise a membrane which is porous and capable of allowing anesthetic or medication to pass through to the tissue surrounding the collar.
During use, medical tubing is inserted into an entry site or opening in a patient""s body. A tube collar of the present invention is then attached to the medical tube in a manner such that the inner surface of the tube collar wraps around the outer surface of the medical tube. The length of the tube is adjusted as necessary to treat the patient before the collar is secured to the tube so that medication can be delivered to the site of interest regardless of where that location is relative to the length of the tube. Once fluids have been drained, the tube is ready for removal from the patient""s body. Prior to and/or during the removal of the tube, an anesthetic and/or other medication is injected into the collar, wherein the anesthetic travels though the channels in the tube collar and is released at the surface of the tube collar. The anesthetic is absorbed from the collar into the body tissue, thereby locally anesthetizing the body tissue at the entry site. Once the medication has provided the desired level of anesthesia, the tube can be removed from the patient""s body.